In challenging times, the simple act of writing letters can foster heartfelt communication and connection. During her mother’s cancer treatments, Emily Pearl was able to savor her mother’s every word despite her inability to communicate verbally.
“My mom was really sick for 12 years of my life,” said Pearl, a freshman psychology major. “I don’t really remember her any other way.”
Her mother was diagnosed with stage IV cancer when Pearl was 5. When Pearl was around the age of 13, her mother lost her ability to speak. Pearl said when her mother was at home in between hospital visits, her mother would leave her small notes when Pearl was sad.
“I still have them at home,” Pearl said. “They would say ‘I love you,’ or ‘I’ll see you soon.’”
Pearl said her mother wouldn’t use texting as a form of communication saying “she was a little old school that way.”
Pearl recalled one such interaction.
“She would have this whiteboard that she would write on,” Pearl said. “She would hold up a finger, and I would wait while she would reply to my questions.”
Pearl was inspired by the sentiment of letter writing and founded App State’s chapter of Letters of Love, a nonprofit organization directed toward sending handmade messages of support to children in hospitals.
Letters of Love is based out of Minnesota and aims to provide emotional support to patients in children’s hospitals around the world. Founded in 2018 by Grace Berbig, the organization accepts handmade cards and letters from individuals and organizations across the country.
During her hospital visits, Pearl often visited children receiving treatment. She spent time connecting with them, forming relationships and providing company for them in a time of need.
“I would always ask to go and sit with the kids and just hang out,” Pearl said. “I would give them a friend to talk to.”
Pearl began visiting her mother in the hospital around the age of 5, calling the hospital a “really scary place.”
After her mom died, Pearl said she wanted to continue her work with children.
“I want to be able to help kids who need help,” Pearl said. “I found Letters of Love and I fell in love with it and realized that this is something that is so simple and so effortless that could make such a big impact.”
Pearl said she felt these kids didn’t always have a voice due to their age, which influenced her passion for volunteer work throughout middle school. Before coming to college, Pearl served as a teaching assistant at local elementary schools.
After graduating and coming to App State, Pearl wanted to continue her volunteer work with children. After connecting with Letters of Love, Pearl registered App State as an official partner with the organization on Sept. 4, 2024.
The Letters of Love chapter at App State aims to connect students by getting together and writing cards to be distributed across children’s hospitals around the country.
When the proposal for a chapter was approved by Letters of Love Global, Pearl began the chartering process through Club Council, which she said was “super helpful.”
During the initial interest meeting, Pearl explained Letters of Love Global’s mission and said the members got to know each other. The first meeting concluded with a prompt for attendees to write down what love means to them. Pearl said the members and officers nicknamed themselves “The Love Club.”
According to Pearl and Berbig, the cards must adhere to specific language requirements and these requirements are reviewed at each meeting. Pearl said letters should avoid phrases such as “stay strong” or “keep fighting” because often the recipients are in hospice care. Instead, students are encouraged to draw pictures, tell jokes and give affirmations to make the children receiving them feel happy.
“It’s kind of subjective,” Pearl said. “Sadly a lot of these kids are in hospice, and we want to make sure that what language we are using is language that is just going to uplift their spirits.”
Berbig said the letters are then sent to her and the card distribution team in Minnesota, where the cards are inspected and vetted again for language.
Berbig said the nonprofit routinely meets with hospital relations teams that call every hospital and children’s hospital in the country to get an updated list of what is accepted for the cards.
“We do receive cards that have swear words or something mean from middle school boys,” Berbig said. “They think it’s funny and don’t really understand it’s not at all. But it makes me sick to even think about that getting into a child’s hand.”
Pearl said the language guidelines also prohibit religious statements or personal information about the people who made the cards.
“The card distribution process is very long and tedious,” Berbig said. “I would say we get over 10,000 a month.”
Berbig said the nonprofit received over 36,000 cards from high schools during the Spring 2024 semester and 33,000 from colleges.
Berbig said the club presidents are reimbursed for shipping costs.
According to the website, the nonprofit organization is partnered with over 222 active chapters.
As the president and founder of the App State chapter, Pearl serves as the intermediary between campus activities and Letters of Love Global and is in constant communication with Berbig and a liaison in California.
Berbig said she and her team do their best to send the cards to the hospitals closest to the club chapters that created them.
Pearl said she has worked to pair the club with Greek life on campus, and said the club has already worked with Kappa Alpha Pi on Nov. 14.
Pearl said she has gained an entire staff board for the club since the group started, including a marketing chair and fundraising chair.
“I have a lovely board of some of these amazing girls who are fantastic,” Pearl said. “They do make my life so much easier than running a nonprofit club by myself.”
The expansion of board members has been helpful for Pearl with balancing her club and school life, but she said she still struggles with it.
“I would put a lot on the line for Letters of Love,” Pearl said. “I love it so much. It gives me a lot of happiness on campus, and it’s kind of like my safe space.”
Pearl credited her early success to strong partnerships between members and leadership.
“I was really lucky at the beginning to have me and then my vice president, Rylie Anthony, and she’s been my right-hand man this whole entire experience,” Pearl said. “So now, having a group of really strong women who really care about it and are helping me so much is amazing. Truly, I’ve met some of my favorite people from it.”
The club hopes to expand to broader acts of kindness on a local level, such as selling bouquets of flowers and passing along notes of positivity.
Letters of Love plans to hold a special Valentine’s Day meeting for their first meeting after winter break on Jan. 29. Pearl said the “month of love” gets very busy for Letters of Love Global, so to ensure the App State chapter’s letters are delivered by the holiday, they are having their meeting early ahead of Valentine’s Day.
“I want to be able to get this club to be the biggest organization on campus,” Pearl said.
The club has 120 members and is active on Engage. The club’s current goal is to increase membership and to stretch beyond App State, partnering with UNC-Chapel Hill’s Letters of Love chapter.
Pearl plans to continue working with Letters of Love after graduation, hoping to work full-time for the organization.
The Letters of Love App State chapter meets twice a month, typically on Wednesday evenings at 6:30 p.m. in Plemmons Student Union. More information on meetings and involvement can be found on the club’s Instagram page.